


Harmony of the Spheres

by Callyopey



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Genius Harry, M/M, Precocious Harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-25
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-03-25 13:25:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3812170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callyopey/pseuds/Callyopey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pre-Hogwarts AU. Not wanted by his relatives and left at an orphanage, before he knows who he is, where he comes from, or even what is happening, Harry is adopted by a loving couple. His new parents discover that not only is their baby highly precocious, but with developing talents, he starts doing things that are unusual enough that they might need to re-discover the world they had sworn never to return to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tuning

Harry Potter was in no way a usual baby. The tragic events that led to the manifest lightning-bolt shaped mark on his forehead and the not-so-manifest sliver of another’s soul etched onto his own, left even more of an imprint than could be discovered by medical scans done quickly in the heat of the moment or by wild-speculations about how it was that this baby survived a curse that no one ever had, and what he could have done to destroy his seemingly invincible attacker. In fact the very events of the night had left an indelible imprint on his psyche. The sweet alto sound of his mother’s lullaby interrupted by an unusually high tenor sound of his father shouting from below followed by a thud, a being producing high metallic unnatural sounds in disharmonious counterpoint with the almost-staccato soft sounds from his mother followed by another thud, the being of the high metallic disharmonious sounds then closer to him, followed by pain, and cries and sobs and whimpers and then absolute silence. Two flashes of green suddenly illuminating the soft candlelit room in succession, followed by incandescent pain, and then, pitch darkness. The frenzied events of the night were the stuff of nightmares, but what remained etched on Harry’s soul was the conclusion: the absolute silence and the pitch darkness.

He did not know how long he floated in that void. But at some point later that night the world was filled with light and sound again. A profound bass roar, a baritone bellow, lights, movement, an exchange of baritone and bass, closer to the thing that roars, all sounds consumed by it for who knows how long, things moving past fast in soft moonlit darkness, a sudden end to the roar, an interchange of soprano, tenor and bass, cessation of movement, cessation of voices, and Harry slowly fell asleep, exhausted, in the soft autumn night, his world entirely changed.


	2. Ouverture

Petunia Dursley was a woman of routine. At six every morning, she went to the door to get the milk and the newspaper. This November the first, however, she was in for a surprising addition: a baby in a basket. With quiet shock, she looked around hoping no one else had seen, and quickly brought the basket in. There was a letter sticking out from the side of the bedding, which she quickly tore and perused, hissing with displeasure when the contents became clear. So her prodigal sister had gone and gotten herself killed along with her freak of a husband, and now they expected her, poor “muggle” Petunia, to take care of their undoubtedly freak of a child? Well, sorry as she was that her sister was dead, she did not want her darling son Dudley in proximity with _their_ sort. Also Vernon knew nothing of the aberrations of her family, and it would be best if he never found out. It was Sunday morning, so he’d be sleeping late, and Petunia would have a couple of hours to get to the nearest orphanage and leave the basket there, where it should have been left in the first place.

Quickly getting ready she came back downstairs to get the basket, and caught her breath. The baby had its eyes open and gazed at her unblinkingly with clear green eyes. Slightly unnerved, and hoping it did not start bawling, she covered the basket with a cloth and slipped out of the house. It was starting to get light and the early-birds were up and about, but no one paid her any mind as she hurried through the streets. When she reached her destination, again with uncharacteristic stealth and caution, she approached the steps of the orphanage and left the basket there, taking away the covering cloth as she left. Not a minute too soon, as the orphanage doors opened and someone exclaimed: another one Rose! Petunia quickly made her way back home, burned the letter, and proceeded to forget all the drama this unwelcome disruption of her morning routine had brought her.

\-----------------------------------------------

Lucretia Malfoy was a determined woman. She had been derided, punished, denied her family and her place in her world because of blind prejudice and the immense capacity that humans have of behaving like ostriches whenever their comfort is threatened. Her adopted world was no better. When her best-friend, beloved, and now wife, Norma, expressed her desire to adopt a baby, they had not thought that it would be so difficult. However, it turned out that if a married couple did not contain people of opposite genders, their wanting a child was to be viewed most suspiciously indeed. Lucretia, however, was not only the youngest Classics professor at the University of London, but also a Malfoy, and magically-dubious or not, she had all the political acumen that being brought up a Malfoy could bring her. So this first of November, after nearly a year of manoeuvring, she was walking hand in hand with her wife to go find their future baby girl or boy.

It was a bright sunny day of the bluest of skies, and Norma Black walked alongside her wife with a skip in her step. She’d had a feeling since she woke up that today was the day, and supposed squib or not, she had learned to depend on her gut-feelings. As they approached the orphanage steps, she felt something call her from within, and there was nothing she could do but follow this call.

The matron met them on the steps with a smile.

“Good morning Ms Black and Ms Malfoy, we were expecting you. Please come in and take a seat. Would you like some tea or coffee?”

“Good morning Ms Brent and no, thank you. In fact we would just like to meet the children and make a decision. We have waited so long, and now that we’re here, I see no point in further delay.”

“All right then, the children have just finished breakfast and are playing outside, would you like to come and observe them?”

Lucretia and Norma followed the matron to the back and gazed upon the animated tableau of children at play in front of them, and were momentarily overwhelmed. As Lucretia turned to her wife to ask something, she found her looking distractedly towards the inside of the house. Norma softly pulled at her hand, and turning towards her said, “I have one of my feelings that there is something in there. Come, we must look”, and pulled her inside. In a room to the left was a young girl cooing at a baby, who was looking at her quietly with clear chartreuse eyes.

“Who is this then?” Lucretia asked. 

The girl, startled, looked up blushing. “Oh, this sweet one was left on our doorstep this morning in that basket there. There seem to be no identifications. Just this coverlet here with “Harry” embroidered on it, ma’am.” 

The matron had followed them inside. As if telepathically communicating with their eyes, the couple had come to a decision, and Norma declared, “This is the one.”

After that there was a mount of paperwork to go through, various other people to talk to, doctors and lawyers to consult, and finally, many hours later, the ladies Black-Malfoy came back home with their baby boy, newly christened Hyperion Black-Malfoy, Harry for short.


	3. Act 1 Scene 1: Magical Baby

Norma Black had never been happier. It had been nine months that they’d had Harry. “Almost as long as I’d have carried him”, Norma thought wistfully, wanting the baby to be _hers_ , well, and Lucretia’s, even in blood, before shaking herself out of her thoughts. There was something about Harry that made her thoughts go in odd directions. Harry was theirs, blood or no blood. Everyone had told them that taking care of a baby was mostly hard work, but taking care of Harry was nothing other than pure elation. It was a joy being around him.

Still, she had to admit that Harry was unusual as a baby. First of all he never cried. Even when he stubbed his toe and must have been in pain, he made no sound at all, merely looked upon her curiously as she fussed over him. Then there were his eyes, clear and curious and almost _too_ intelligent, as if he understood everything and was cataloguing all he learned for future meditation. In fact the best way to describe him would be as _contemplative_ , if such a word were not ridiculous on a child hardly two years old. Finally, he never spoke, though he always seemed to listen intently. And this intent listening was not confined to people talking to him. It was his unusual absorption whenever Norma sat down to practice on her piano that had Lucretia at one time declare, “Careful, my love, I think we’ll have another prodigy like you at hand, if all he does is sit there listening to you. And then where would I be taking care of _two_ absentminded geniuses?”, which of course had Norma tackling her to the carpet to find her sensitive spot and tickle her into flurries of laughter, all music and talk of geniuses forgotten.

Two year old Harry merely looked intrigued by their antics. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The first extraordinary event about Harry took place later that year, one night deep in December. Norma had been practising for her recital on Christmas eve. Harry was cuddled up in colourful blankets in an armchair near the fire with direct view of Norma on her piano, his favourite spot. Lucretia was sat across him, reading. Norma stopped for a moment to look through her score, when a distinct soft voice said, “mum”. Both Norma and Lucretia looked up sharply, Harry was looking directly at Norma. Overcome with joy, Norma came up to Harry and kneeling down in front of him said, “yes, baby”, hoping to hear him call her mum again. What he did instead was astonishing even for two pureblood squibs. He said in a clear, lilting voice, “play that one again”, and from the piano, came the first few notes of the _andante_ of Mozart’s sonata in A, which she had played the first week he had arrived. Both Norma and Lucretia were shocked, so much so that they were paralysed into inaction for the greater part of a minute. Then Norma picked him up in a hug and with overflowing eyes breathed, “our baby is a wizard, Luce, can you believe it”. Lucretia still had a stunned look on her face, but at this she came and pulled them both in a hug, still speechless. Harry, a bit confused, merely said, “please”, and Norma broke into an unbelieving laugh, and declared, “of course, anything for you love”, and went back to play what her extraordinary, beautiful, _wizard_ child had demanded. Lucretia merely rocked Harry in her arms, holding him tight, still not quite ready to believe.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

The next morning they had an argument.

“No I’m not going back to that world. You know what they did to us, and they’re hardly any better to muggleborns, and a muggleborn brought up by squibs?”

“Listen Luce, Harry needs to know about our world. You know that at eleven he will get his Hogwarts letter. And he _will_ , with _controlled_ accidental magic before he’s even three, he is surely a wizard, and a powerful one at that”

“But do you want to face our families, and the sneers? For god’s sake, they carted us off to France and left us in a nunnery when we were eleven and it became clear that we were not magical enough for them. Do you think our having adopted a magical child would change that? I’ll not expose him to that!”

“Still, we do have to get him potions now that we know he’s a wizard. Muggle medicines won’t be enough, and as his bouts of accidental magic grow, there are certain draughts that he’ll have to be given. We’ll have to find out what. We need books now that we know we have a wizard baby, Luce.”

“Oh all right. I’ll go to Diagon Alley and get some of those things. But you and Harry will stay here. About the rest I’m still not decided.”

Norma only gave her a brilliant smile and pulled her into a kiss, “It’ll be all right my love. The three of us will get through anything together. It will be a grand adventure!”

Thus it was that eighteen years after she had quit the wizarding world for good, having sworn never to look back, Lucretia Malfoy nevertheless made her way to Diagon Alley, again.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not much had changed in Diagon Alley at first glance. Yet, if one paid attention to the pulse, as Lucretia was naturally inclined to, one could detect a lightening of mood, a distinctive lack of worry as Lucretia had never in her life seen in the wizarding world. People of all sorts moved around and interacted cheerfully, as if they had no greater worry than what the current fashion in robes was. There was an optimism in the air that could only come in times of peace. Perhaps that is it, Lucretia thought. Perhaps sometime in the last ten years, the interminable conflict got resolved, and it looked like one of the sides won, probably the light, given the mix of people out and about. She had not kept in touch with the wizarding world at all, and it was a jolt to realize that even something as stagnant as the wizarding world does not remain the same. Or perhaps seeing it from the perspective of an independent adult made all the difference. Diagon Alley was busy before Christmas, especially on a bright Sunday afternoon, and Lucretia had to push through crowds as she made her way to Gringotts. She had her hood up, as she did not want to get accosted, because the simple colour of her hair would get at least her familial background recognized, though most probably not herself, as she had not existed in this world for quite a few years.

After a quick and unproblematic exchange of currencies at Gringotts, Lucretia made her way to the bookstore with rising anticipation, and it was not only for Harry’s sake anymore, the spark of curiosity had been lit in Lucretia’s scholar’s heart and she looked forward to the treasures she’d collect from Flourish and Blotts. Though she had initially planned to get only parenting books, Lucretia couldn’t help but collect a few books on history to get back in touch with the world she was to re-enter, and even a beginner’s book on magic theory, wistful of the education she had lost when she was shipped off to the couvent in France at the age of eleven. As she was paying for the books, she saw the distinctive silvery-blond Malfoy hair in her peripheral vision and her heart gave a jolt. A moment later it restarted when she realised that it couldn’t be her father, for the man who had entered the shop, though equally haughty, was still quite young. Lucius, she realised. He’d been only a year old when she’d left. It hurt to think that he probably didn’t even know of her existence, and if her father had managed to bring him up “properly”, he would refuse to acknowledge his own sister, born of the same mother and father. Making sure that her hood hid her hair, and not meeting his eye, Lucretia quickly made her way out of Diagon Alley, having lost all taste for spending more time re-discovering the wizarding world.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

While Norma spent the next few days practising for the Christmas Eve concert, Lucretia perused the parenting books, noting down the different potions and vaccinations that Harry would need. For the most part, muggle medicine had equivalents, though it was likely that for a magical child, magical potions would be more effective. There were a few ailments that ran through families, but Harry, most likely muggleborn, would probably be free from them. Still, they would have to get a parenting test done at some point, just to make sure. 

A couple of days later, that became a necessity. It was the day before Christmas Eve, and everyone was settled in a position similar to the day they discovered that Harry was a wizard: Norma on the piano, Harry ensconced in blankets in the armchair by the fire, across Lucretia who was reading _Modern Magical History_. Lucretia suddenly gasped and dropped the book, calling both Harry’s and Norma’s attention. Norma immediately got up from the piano and knelt in front of Lucretia asking her what was wrong. Lucretia did not say anything, just pointed her to the passage:

“On the 31st of October 1981, the Dark Lord Voldemort killed James and Lily Potter at their residence in Godric Hollow; however, through circumstances unknown, when he tried to kill their fifteen month old son Harry, the spell rebounded, causing the disappearance (possibly death) of the Dark Lord, leaving baby Harry with nothing but a lightning bolt scar on his forehead.”

Norma turned and picked up Harry, looked at the scar, and then into his clear eyes, as if she could see the answer in their depths.

“Is it possible?”, Norma wondered, “Could our baby be Harry _Potter_?”

“Look at the evidence Norm, he is the right age, and very clearly has a lightning bolt scar, which had us worried for quite some time. The only question is why they would leave their _hero_ at the steps of the orphanage? Seems unusually callous for the so-called light side.”

“I don’t know love. And I don’t like it either. If he _is_ Harry Potter, then it may even be dangerous for it to be known in the wizarding world. One side seemingly doesn’t care, the other might be out for his blood, and the public is probably full of empty adulation. None can be any good for him, Luce.”

“You’re right, love. You know perhaps I should accept the offer at Sorbonne. You spend more time in Paris than London anyway with all your concerts, and it would put us at some distance from the British wizarding public, while we figure out what we must do to keep our Harry safe”

“Yes, that is a good idea. It will also make it less likely that we'd run into our families now that we have to navigate the magical world again. I am not looking forward to those confrontations. In the meantime we can find out more about Harry's parentage, and perhaps look into magical adoption. What do you think?”

Thus it was that a few weeks into the new year, Sorbonne gained a new professor of Classical Literature, and a cosy flat in the 5th arrondissement of Paris gained three new residents: a scholar, a musician and a magical baby.


	4. Act 1 Scene 2: Paris

For this particular offshoot of the Black-Malfoy family, Paris was a delight waiting to be discovered. Although both Lucretia and Norma had spent their formative years in France, they were sheltered in a convent for squib girls, hidden away in a valley of the Pyrenees. When they ran away together at the age of seventeen, they only passed through Paris on their way to London, without stopping to properly discover it. They had both been in Paris since then, Lucretia for conferences, and Norma for concerts, but coming to live there was a different thing altogether. Additionally, this time round, they had to enter the Parisian wizarding world, of which they knew very little. Lucretia had often heard her mother talk of the _Passages des Sorciers_ , but she did not know how to get there; the only guess was that it was probably in the 2nd arrondissement, like its muggle counterparts, of which the _Passage des Panoramas_ was the most famous. However, unlike Diagon Alley, the Parisian wizarding shopping district was a network of covered passages underground, and it was quite difficult to find if one did not know where to look.

They spent their first couple of months in Paris promenading in the various streets and strolling through parks: they discovered the joy of evening walks along the Seine and they visited many historical monuments and churches. In the meantime, Lucretia started her job at the university, while Norma had a couple of concerts lined up. While Lucretia was kept busy at the university in the weekdays, Norma took Harry and went exploring through the passages of the 2nd arrondissement, hoping to discover an entry into the wizarding district. Although Harry still couldn’t walk for too long, he loved sitting in the perambulator as he discovered new sights and sounds. It was on one of these walks that Norma got a first hint of where the wizarding district may be. She was browsing through the bookstore at _Galerie Vivienne_ , when she caught a glimpse of someone in obvious wizarding robes. She tried to follow the person by sight, but they soon disappeared into the crowd. She then decided to sit for a coffee and people-watch, but did not sight anyone else that day. But as this was the biggest clue so far about where the wizarding district might be, she decided to come back the next day. The gamble paid off, and as she was entering the _Galerie_ , she spotted a woman in wizarding robes, walking with a young girl of about eight. As it wasn’t so crowded in the morning, she managed to catch up with the lady and accost her.

“Madame, pardon me, but could you possibly tell me how I can get to the _Passages des Sorciers_? I have just moved here from London and do not know where the wizarding districts of Paris are located”

If the witch was surprised at being approached by a woman in muggle-clothing she did not show it, but very politely answered, “Of course Madame, we ourselves are heading that way, so you could accompany us, and if you wish, I could show you around as well.”

“You are too kind Madame,” Norma replied, “oh and I should introduce myself, I am Norma Black, and this is my son Hyperion”

“Enchanté! I am Amaryllis Bellerose and this is my daughter Sylvie. So how long have you been in Paris?”

“We’ve been here since the end of January. We’ve spent the last few months exploring the muggle side of Paris, but we have no contacts in the magical world here. I was almost ready to go back all the way to London to gather information about the Parisian districts. You are truly a godsend!”

“It is nothing Madame Black. I’ll be very glad to show you around. I just came to do some shopping for my daughter, and we have plenty of time. I would be glad of your company. If you don’t mind my asking, how is it that you are more familiar with the muggle world?”

“Oh I don’t mind at all, and please call me Norma, you see both my wife and I showed little magical talent as children and were left in the margins of the magical world at the age of eleven. When we were seventeen, we decided to leave the magical world for good, and to make our lives in the muggle world. We only decided to re-enter it for our son, whom we discovered to be a wizard a few months ago. Unfortunately, as we discovered, it is not easy to re-integrate if one has lived in the margins for so long.”

If anything, Amaryllis seemed delighted at the idea of meeting a lesbian squib, and exclaimed, “I’m so sorry to hear that! I’ll be happy to show you around, and if you wish I can introduce both you and your wife to my group of friends. We run a society to help muggleborns who are often marginalised in our society, and we were thinking of expanding to include squibs, who are also pushed to the margins of our culture. Perhaps you could come to a few of our meetings and decide whether you’d like to be part of our group”, and she added with a disarming smile, “oh, and do call me Marie, all my friends do.”

While talking, they had descended to the second-hand bookstore, where Amaryllis stopped and pointed out a shelf in the corner which clearly did not belong in a muggle bookshop. Although the way that the eyes of other customers passed over that corner, it was clear that muggles could not see it anyway. Amaryllis explained, “there are various entrances to the _Passages des Sorciers_ , which, as you will see, extends under quite a large area of Paris. I can show you the other entrances later. If you get to this bookstore, you just need to get to this shelf and tap the third and fifth book from the left of the top shelf, and then stroke the spine of this red book in the middle. If you don’t remember, you can always ask the storekeeper there, who is a squib, and can help you out.” As she followed the instructions that she’d given out, the shelf rotated, leaving them to walk through a dark and narrow but short passage. At the other side of the passage, they found themselves on the top floor of a bookstore, this time clearly magical, which extended down three floors.

“So this, Norma, is our famous bookstore _Le Corbeau Illustre_. You can find books on almost every magical subject here, and you have already seen the muggle section on the other side. Come, I’ll show you around the rest of the wizarding district.” They climbed down the stairs and made for the exit. As soon as Norma stepped out the door, she couldn’t help but let out a gasp. They were literally at the conjunction of a web of colour and light. The shops twisted off like octopus legs in eight different directions converging in a circle in the middle, off which the bookshop was located. Each leg was like a Diagon Alley of its own. On the other side of the bookstore, dominating the circle, was the Parisian branch of Gringotts, its motto, _Fortius Quo Fidelius_ , engraved on top of the inwardly curved façade of the white building. Two busy shopping alleys branched out behind it. The ceilings were made of enchanted glass which glowed with soft refracted sunlight, not too different from the galleries aboveground. For a moment Norma was overwhelmed. It would take days to just walk around and discover each shop, and she wished Lucretia was with her, so she turned to Amaryllis and said, “Marie, it was very kind of you to show me the way to this place, but it is much bigger than I expected and I do not have the time to explore it properly today. Also, I’d like to have my wife with me. So perhaps I had better leave you to your shopping?”

“Of course, I know that the _Passages_ can be a bit overwhelming the first time. Why, I remember how awed I was the first time I came here as a girl. But let us meet again sometime. I have a lot of time these days and I’d be very happy to show you around. You can owl me the next time you come here and if I’m free I’d love to come and meet both you and your wife.”

“Thank you so much Marie! I don’t really have an owl yet. We were planning to get one but, well, we were still looking for our way in here.”

“Oh, if you want an owl, the menagerie is just a few shops down in the street on the left behind Gringotts.”

“Great! Maybe I can get an owl today as a surprise for Lucretia.”

“Come on. I’m going that way, so I can show you. Also, if you keep walking down this alley, you’ll get to a different exit. It opens in to the _Jardin des Tuileries_. It is the most frequented entrance point to the _Passages_. To walk out you don’t need to do anything, just walk through the wall, but to walk in you need to press the toes of the statue outside in the pattern two, three, five and eight, and a passage will open up. Ah here we are at the menagerie. I’ll leave you to it then, and hopefully see you soon!” At this point she ruffled Harry’s hair, who had so far been observing everything unobtrusively, waved to Norma, and quickly disappeared into the crowd with her daughter.

Norma was left staring after this whirlwind of a woman, wondering at her first contact in the Parisian wizarding world, till Harry decided to call her attention. He still hardly spoke, so Norma was again caught off-guard by the clarity of his diction, “Mum, could I walk alongside you if I hold your hand?”

“Of course my darling. Let us find an owl for your maman, and then we can walk back home with you pushing the pram as you like to.”

The menagerie was grand, with different animals placed in different sections. Harry and Norma made their way to the owls, a bit daunted by the variety displayed there. A sprightly young man walked up to them and offered his help, adding, “are you looking for a particular kind of owl madam?”

“I am looking for an owl that can handle basic post, but is also friendly enough that it can be a pet to my three year old son”

“That rules out Eagle Owls and Hawk Owls then. Oh I’ve just the thing for you. We have a young Elf Owl. They’re a bit shy at first, but once they get used to you they’re very loyal.” At this he showed them a tiny grey silvery-sheened owl speckled with white, who when picked up, tried to burrow into the palm of his hand, and continued, “But he won’t grow very big, so he won’t be able to carry heavy packages, just a couple of letters at most. On the other hand, once he’s fully grown he’ll be able to fly very fast and quite far.” As the owl’s back was stroked, he opened one pale yellow eye and looked with trepidation at the humans surrounding him. Harry, completely captivated, shyly held out both his hands to the shop assistant, asking without words if he could hold the owl. As the young man bent down and held out the owl towards Harry, it decided to ruffle its feathers and with a short flight perched itself on Harry’s shoulder, causing the shop assistant to exclaim, “Oh he already likes you! It usually takes a few days for Elf Owls to get used to their owners. But this one seems to have chosen you.” The choice of the humans, then, was foregone, and Harry, Norma, and their new owl Hermes made their way back to their flat to give Lucretia a wonderful surprise.


	5. Act 1 Scene 3: Adoption

The ladies Black-Malfoy and their son Harry with his pet owl became a common sight in the _Passages des Sorciers_ over the next few weeks. It was already a big step re-discovering the wizarding world, and the _Passages_ were grand enough to be a world on their own. They even met up with Amaryllis once, who very graciously reiterated her offer of helping them navigate the labyrinth of the Parisian wizarding society and of introducing them to her muggleborn support society, which she was hoping would be expanded to include squibs. This bright sunny day of May had them coming to the _Passages_ on a somewhat more serious business. They had decided to open an account for Harry at Gringotts, and to look into the different options for adoption in the magical world, because in case he did turn out to be Harry Potter, and thus not muggleborn, the muggle adoption documents might turn out to not be enough.

Amaryllis had advised them to first go to Gringotts for a heritage test, as the Goblins were more discreet than the ministry, and depending on the results to decide the course of action, so the three of them found themselves in front of the information desk manned by a bored-looking goblin who looked up at them with absolute disinterest as he asked, “How can I help you?” Lucretia took up the mantle, “We’re looking for a heritage test for our adopted son here, and we wanted to know about options for magical adoption. We were told to come to Gringotts. Could you tell us what the procedures are?” Instead of replying, the goblin merely touched his forefinger to one of the indents on his desk and said, “My colleague will take you for the heritage test and guide you with regard to adoption. Have a good day.” With this he brusquely turned his attention back to looking at the papers on his desk. Within an instant, however, a relatively young-looking goblin was guiding them towards one of the rooms with a door emblazoned with the words “Heritage and Adoption”. He was a little more polite as he said, “Please wait here mesdames and monsieur, my department chief Ecgrooc will be here in a minute. He will discuss your options. Please take a seat.” As soon as they sat in front of the massive desk, a wizened old goblin with sharp eyes that did not seem to miss much walked in and took up the high chair behind the desk. Without any pleasantries, he asked “am I to understand that you are looking to adopt this young wizard here?”

“Yes. Though we have already legally adopted him in the muggle system. It came to our notice a few months back that our son here is magical, so we wanted to get a heritage test done, and in case he is not muggleborn to look into legal adoptions in the magical world too.”

“Understood. I must tell you however that magical adoption depends on many other factors, amongst them, the age of the child adopted and the magical compatibility of the prospective parents with the child.”

At this both Norma and Lucretia blanched, and the latter felt compelled to let him know that they were both squibs.

The goblin waved it away, “The lack of an ability to do magic by waving a wand does not make you non-magical, this is a fact that wizards don’t seem to grasp. Even as squibs, you have a magical core, though you are not able to direct your magic in the same way as most normal witches and wizards. If your magic shows, it would be in ways subtle enough to avoid detection. How do you think you can enter the _Passages_ and interact with us if you were entirely excluded from magic? All that is beside the point. We can do a few tests on your magical cores to test compatibility so that we can decide which forms of adoption are available to you. Do you want me to list all the options?” All three of them nodded.

“First, there is full blood adoption. But that is an option unavailable to you as it has to be done before the child reaches one year of age. This form of adoption would make the child indistinguishable from one of your own blood. On future heritage tests they would show as your offspring alone. This kind of adoption changes the physical characteristics of the child to reflect that of his adoptive parents. Next, up till the age of five, you can go for a magical adoption. The child would receive any magical inheritances from you that are passed down in your families and would be considered your child in all but blood. It requires core-compatibility, which is more usual if you do share some familial connection, although that is not always necessary. The child does not lose the original inheritance from his parents, and is considered, in effect, the child of both his blood parents and his magical parents. Physical characteristics are not really changed, though subtle changes in features have been observed over a period of time. Finally there is the simple name-adoption. In this case, documents are drawn that name the child as yours, as in the muggle world. His new name and parentage will be inscribed in our registers, but by magic and blood, his heritage will not change. Legally, however, he will be considered your offspring. So these are your options.”

Lucretia recovered from this sleigh of information first, “well we’ll have to do the heritage test first and then check for magical compatibility if we want to go for magical adoption, so could we do that first?”

“Of course. The heritage test is very simple and it requires only one drop of blood if you want information only up to the parents, three drops if you want the previous generation, and subsequently two more drops per further generation. I would recommend three drops because knowledge up to grand-parents is necessary for all forms of adoption; for in case they are alive, you would need to gain their permission in order to proceed with magical or legal adoption”. Saying this, he cast a few spells at a parchment, which started glowing, and asked Harry to hold out his left hand. As Harry did so, he quickly pricked his forefinger with a golden pin, squeezed out three precise drops on the parchment and spelled the puncture shut. Harry did not make a single sound at the entire affair, though his eyes were wide and nearly threatened tears. Norma immediately hugged him and glared at the goblin for his abruptness. But in a second they were all distracted by the words that started appearing on the parchment:

**Name: Harry James Potter**  
**Date of Birth: 31st July 1980**  
**Mother: Lily Evans Potter (deceased)**  
**Father: James Charlus Potter (deceased)**  
**Mother’s mother: Colchique Guiverneau (deceased)**  
**Mother’s father: Telemaque Ulysse Noirceur**  
**Father’s mother: Dorea Black Potter (deceased)**  
**Father’s father: Charlus Henry Potter (deceased)**  


There was a moment of shock as Norma and Lucretia confirmed what they already suspected, and then a moment of disbelief as they looked down the list of names.

“He is aunt Dorea’s grandson!”  
“He is a Noirceur!”

The goblin interrupted, “The Noirceur parentage is indeed a surprise. As you may know, they are a prominent French wizarding family, and the current lord’s younger brother Telemaque is unmarried and is not known to have any children. I can look up Colchique Guiverneau in our registers if you’d give me a moment.” With this he climbed off his chair, went to the shelves behind the desk, and waved his hand to cast a spell. Two registers flew out, which he brought to the table. He opened the first register to look up Guiverneau, and with some perusal closed it, “It seems Madame Guiverneau was registered with us at birth, but as she did not show any magical ability, she was not confirmed at the age of eleven. After that there has been no record of her. It is to be assumed that she left the magical world, although at some point she must have come in contact with M. Noirceur. Do you want me to look up Lily Evans Potter?” At their nod of acceptance he opened the second register, frowning at a particular entry, “It seems Madame Potter was registered with us first as a muggleborn first-year under the name of Lily Evans, with parents noted as Violet and Richard Evans. No heritage test was performed. Subsequently, at her marriage with M. Potter, she registered and changed her name to Lily Evans Potter. Her final registration is at the birth of her child.”

“But how can that be? How can her parentage be different in her record from what has appeared on Harry’s heritage test?”

“It is a simple loophole Madame. We do not require muggleborns to go through a heritage test upon registration, muggle records are considered sufficient. It is possible that Colchique Guiverneau changed her name either upon entry into the muggle world or upon her marriage with Richard Evans. Her daughter Lily was either born after her marriage with M. Evans, though conceived with M. Noirceur, or was adopted by the Evanses, who might in fact be completely unrelated to her. We do not keep muggle records, so we cannot know for certain. There is however no doubt that by blood and magic, her parents are as they appear in young Monsieur Harry’s test. The heritage test cannot be deceived, and the only case where the heritage changes is in the case of full blood adoption, which is unlikely here.”

As they tried to digest this information, Norma asked the pertinent question, “But then, if his grandfather is still alive, we will have to gain his permission in order to perform the adoption?”

“Not quite. That is another loophole Madame. As Lily Evans was never acknowledged by her biological father and subsequently, neither was her son, Monsieur Noirceur would have no say in their lives. You can therefore proceed with the adoption as if he were non-existent. You may however want to get in touch with him about his grandson, as by blood, he would remain his grandfather. Now, do you wish to check for magical compatibility? I must warn you, however, that in case there is no familial relation, there is only a 33% chance that your cores would be found compatible.”

“Oh, the heritage test showed that Harry’s grandmother is Dorea Black, which would make him my second cousin”, Norma declared, “and as all pureblood families are related, I’m sure there is some Malfoy in him too somewhere. Anyway, let us test and see.”

The goblin then led them to the adjacent room, at the centre of which was a bed, beside which the young goblin from before stood fretting.

“I will ask you to lie down on this bed one by one, starting with young Harry, as I cast the diagnostic spell.”

Norma picked Harry up, and laid him on the bed, though she worried her lower lip with her teeth in a clear sign of apprehension. Ecgrooc waved her worry away, “It is a simple procedure. You will have to drink a potion, and after a minute allowing it to settle down, I will scan your magical core, the results of which will be displayed on this parchment. After I have scanned all three of your cores I will do a _consociabilis_ spell to check whether your cores are compatible enough for magical adoption.” At this his assistant came up with a vial containing a clear colourless liquid, which he presented to Norma to give to Harry. A minute after Harry took the potion, Ecgrooc waved a wand over him covering his body with a golden glow. In a few moments the golden bled into a charteuse green, the same colour of Harry’s eyes. Ecgrook knit his brow in contemplation, took some notes, and then put his wand away. After Harry, Norma and Lucretia went through the same procedure, Norma’s glow turning a forest green and Lucretia’s going a cerulean blue. Ecgrook spent a few minutes taking notes and then presented them with the parchment with the results:

**Magical Core Compatibility Test**

**Core Characteristics:**

**Harry James Potter: Primary element(s) – Water and Fire; Inclination – Left; Angle – 64 degrees NW; Colour – Light; Metal – Silver; Mineral – Yellow Sapphire; Animal – Wyvern  
** **Norma Black: Primary element(s) – Earth; Inclination – Centre-Left; Angle – 28 degrees NW; Colour – Dark; Metal – Copper; Mineral – Emerald; Animal – Seahorse**  
**Lucretia Malfoy: Primary element(s) – Aer; Inclination – Right; Angle – 85 degrees SE; Colour – Light-Neutral; Metal – Phosphorus; Mineral – Blue Sapphire; Animal – Eagle**

**Compatibility:**

**Harry James Potter x Norma Black – 82.8%  
** **Harry James Potter x Lucretia Malfoy – 47.9%**  
**Norma Black x Lucretia Malfoy – 87.3%**

“So what does all this mean?” Lucretia finally asked.

“It means that Madame Black’s core is compatible enough to do a magical adoption, but I’m afraid, it won’t be possible for you Madame Malfoy, as we require at least 67% compatibility in cores for the procedure. The option of legal adoption is always open for you,” Ecgrooc replied, completely ignoring the implicit question of what all the details in the chart meant.

Norma’s face fell at that, but Lucretia picked up the nuance. “Does that mean that we can do both? I mean, my wife can become the magical parent as her core is compatible, while I can additionally legally adopt him, as he is, eventually, my wife’s son.”

While Norma looked incredulously at Lucretia, Ecgrooc easily replied, “Of course Madame. But in that case you will need to register your marriage in our records as well, and the easiest way to do that is to reconfirm your partnership in a magically binding ceremony. It is not absolutely required, but it will make the whole subsequent legal adoption procedure easier. In Gringotts we offer a simple ceremony, which requires nothing more of you than signing a simple contract. You could of course always go to the _ministry_ for a different ceremony,” he added with a marked distaste for the latter option.

At this Lucretia turned to her wife with a laugh, “Do you want to get married again, my love?” Norma couldn’t hold her grin back, “Of course darling, as many times as you want.” After that it was a rush. They were taken to another department where they “remarried” in a magical fashion, with one officiating goblin and two other goblins and a nearly-three-year-old boy as witnesses. They then came back to the adoption department where Harry and Norma went through an hour long procedure of potions and obscure spellcasting, a procedure which left Harry asleep and Norma exhausted. Finally, they filled and signed forms for legal adoption, so that seven hours after they’d entered Gringotts, they left legally married in the magical world with a magically and legally adopted baby, now (officially) named Hyperion James Telemachus Black-Malfoy, his parents having decided to add the names of his father and maternal-grandfather as a nod to his heritage. Unofficially, however, he was still just Harry.


End file.
